Two football games involving clubs that aren’t widely tipped to lift the Champions League trophy this year.
But could they actually buck the betting odds and cause some surprise?
They have to reach the later stages first, however. This is an ideal chance to make the quarter-finals in ties which even Asian Handicap betting odds are struggling to separate.
Sevilla vs Manchester United
This is a meeting of the last two winners of the Europa League, but now only one of them can reach the quarter-finals of Europe’s top competition.
Sevilla may not quite have the panache they had when Unai Emery was in charge, but their group encounters with Liverpool showed they still have undoubted quality.
That match also highlighted both their strengths and weaknesses as they drew 2-2 and 3-3, staging a superb fightback from 3-0 down in the latter.
Vincenzo Montella is the new man at the helm and he will relish taking on one of the top managers in football in Jose Mourinho.
Mourinho would love to become the first manager to win football’s top prize with three different clubs but knows there is much work to do for that dream to become a reality.
This should be an occasion of genuine quality in the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium.
Shakhtar Donetsk vs AS Roma
Another close battle awaits, beginning with the opening leg in Ukraine.
Shakhtar Donetsk are locked in a domestic battle with Dynamo Kyiv for domestic honours but would dearly love to match their side from 2011 which reached the quarter-finals before going down to eventual champions Barcelona.
The good news for Donetsk is that on that occasion, Roma were the side they defeated over two legs.
So can lightning strike twice?
Roma are certainly not pulling up any trees.
Currently third in Serie A, they are not in title contention. They also have a similar record in the Champions League to Donetsk where they have not progressed past the quarter-finals.
However, they have a man in form in Cengiz Under: he has four goals in his last three games They also showed real quality to top a qualifying group which included English champions Chelsea and Atletico Madrid.
The home crowd will have a big part to play.
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